


A Different Kind of Journal

by utcrypticiores



Category: Death Note, Gravity Falls
Genre: Death Note AU, Dipper has problems, Gen, High school senior Dipper and Mabel, Mabel and Pacifica's relationship is very minor, No big deal, Older Dipper Pines, Older Everyone, Older Mabel Pines, Older Pacifica Northwest, Pacifica tries investigation as a hobby, already established, communication issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-13 21:41:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4538415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/utcrypticiores/pseuds/utcrypticiores
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper finds the Death Note in the forest on a rare trip out alone.  He’s sceptical, but tests it out on Gideon, and finds that a lot of problems can be caused by a few words in a note book. Dipper has to worry about keeping the notebook hidden and out of the wrong hands, dealing with nosy surprise investigators, and with Bill, the previous owner of the Death Note, tagging along everywhere and nearly driving him insane. This mixed with a forest full of magical creatures leads to a lot more issues than he wanted to deal with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Dipper’s heart nearly leapt into his throat as he forced his way through the trees, tripping on a loose blackberry vine and recovering, kicking out just a little bit further, a little bit faster. The scenery around him was a blur, it was very hot for how late it was, and something absolutely gigantic was ripping through the trees after him, with more eyes than he could count. And that wasn’t even mentioning the teeth. Oh god, those teeth… 

Dipper made a hard right, jumping and skidding onto a high rocky outcrop between the thick trees and flattening himself against a tall stone. He shut his eyes so tight he saw stars, but he listened to the giant beast rage past him further into the forest, and let out a small sigh of relief, a normal breathing pattern and the ability to think in complete sentences returning slowly. Cautiously, he opened his eyes. He was surrounded by crumbling grey stone and dried husks of weeds, and noticed the sun was just above the treeline. He started to pull his legs up to his chest, and felt his sneaker sole slide against something smooth lying on the ground. “A notebook?” He reached down and picked it up, attempting to ignore the cry of protest from his back. He held it up and squinted in the dim evening light. After years of nights spent reading in low light and too small of print, he had needed glasses to see for the past three years. This, matched with his terrible posture, lead to Mabel joking he was going to be old before he finished high school. “The ‘Death Note’, huh? Some hiker must have dropped it.” He flipped it open, fully expecting to find some mountain-man’s adventure diary, and frowned. “The human whose name is written in this book shall die…” His eyes widened slightly, but he stopped himself. “This is ridiculous. But interesting. Rideresting?” He stopped himself again. Prolonged exposure to Mabel had lead to him picking up her habit of combining words. It was getting late and he was farther away from the shack than he normally wandered, not to mention alone, so he slipped the notebook into his beat-up backpack and started the long trek back. On the bright side, he had escaped the beast and found an interesting notebook. On the bad side, whatever it was was still lurking in the woods. He kicked a tree in frustration, but its inhabitants screeched menacingly and he ran the rest of the way back to the shack. 

…

The next morning Dipper yawned and let out a light groan in bed, trying to get up and realizing that everything hurt. Nearly every part of him was bruised, scratched, or scraped, and now that the adrenaline had worn off he felt all of it. He cringed as he heard Mabel kick open the door to their old room. She had been sleeping in a different room for the past four summers, but Mabel was never one to let personal space get in her way. 

“Bro-bro! Get up already, it’s past nine! I can’t believe you didn’t wake me up to tell me about your creepy night adventure. What happened?” She flopped down onto the foot of his bed and he shut his eyes, feeling a new wave of ache from the full-body bruise. 

“Pain. Pain happened. Try not to shake the bed.” 

Mabel snorted, but looked concerned. “Got it. Remember that time before eighth grade when we ran into that hoard of mole people under the shack? I swear my arm didn’t feel the same for years.” Dipper did remember. She still had a scar. 

“Nah, it’s not that bad.” He sat up slowly and found his glasses on the table next to his bed, putting them on. He had collapsed into bed last night without changing clothes or brushing his teeth, and was starting to regret it. 

“So, what happened?” Mabel repeated, grabbing his bag from the ground. “Did you catch whatever it was you were running after?”

Dipper suddenly felt a wave of apprehension, grabbing the bag away from Mabel. “Uh, yeah. I found it.”

“And that’s why you have all the bruises? Well, despite the pain, the important thing is that it can’t hurt anyone else.”

“Yeah, about that…”

They talked for a few more minutes, before he finally got out of bed and took a long shower, walking into the kitchen clean in a change of clothes. Waiting at the table was Mabel, staring straight at him, grinning, her hands folded on the table. Stan was reading something in the news while eating breakfast, and on the other side of the table was, to his surprise, Wendy. 

He laughed in surprise, happy to see an old friend. 

Obviously, that ship had sailed ages ago. His affinity with Wendy was a weird splotch on an already weird enough self history, but she was a good friend and he was glad to see her after so long. “Hey, Wendy. Uh, I wasn’t expecting you, Mabel didn’t mention you were back from college.”

“College? Kid, you are looking at a registered nurse.” She grinned proudly, and flipped back her red hair, and Dipper could tell it was a good fit for her. 

It was a happy reunion, but there was something else nagging at his mind, and he couldn’t help but be distracted, despite how nice it was to see an old friend. 

Later in the day Mabel took Wendy out for lunch and a walk at wherever they had decided on, and even though Dipper was invited he was just as happy to have the time to himself. Hearing the door click shut and the muffled laughing halt downstairs, he closed the door to his room and pulled the thin black notebook he had found the night before.

He pulled out a pen and clicked it in and out as he read through the instructions again, written in white on black paper. “This thing has got to be a prank, but I have to hand it to whoever made it, this thing has some detail.” He flipped to a blank white page and clicked his pen again. “There’s no harm in trying it out once. Just imagine the face and write the name, huh?” He thought a second, then smiled as he wrote the name: Gideon Gleeful. He was nothing but a pest, and he had started nothing but trouble since he got out of jail last year… At least, according to Stan’s postcards. 

Dipper felt a wave of doubt, but shook his head quickly and tucked the notebook into his backpack. There’s nothing to worry about. There’s no way someone so far away could be affected by writing on a piece of paper. But he couldn’t help but catch himself checking his watch. 

Eventually he pulled out some of his textbooks and study materials for an AP English class in his school in Piedmont next year. He had to read a few books and compare essays, no big deal. Before he knew it, he was absorbed in the book and the day had gone by, and it was past four in the afternoon when he heard Mabel bang open his door again. “Dip! Wendy and I had the best time! It’s so great to talk with her again, and we ran into Candy when we were out! You should have been there, you are definitely going with us next time.” She was smiling and walking around the room as she talked, and Dipper had to admit it sounded fun, even though he wasn’t completely in favor of Mabel’s idea of a good time. His, at least, involved less glitter. Mabel had chilled out slightly over the years, and had eased out of her boy crazy phase, but was still remarkably similar to the way she had been at their first summer at Gravity Falls. He looked up at her when he heard her pause. 

“What?”

“I was just thinking you probably haven’t moved since we left. You need to eat, you know.” 

He rolled his eyes but laughed. “Coming from the person who once spent twelve hours in her room designing a Summerween costume with nothing but Kool-Aid.” 

With this she conceded, and they headed downstairs to help Stan close up. 

When they went downstairs, they couldn’t find him. “Maybe he’s still on a tour with one of the other workers, or out with Ford?” Dipper suggested. 

“No, he’d never work late, he’s Stan.” They waited around for a few more hours, and just when they were considering calling the police, Stan came through the door, looking far more tired than he should and like he’d seen one thing too many.

 

“Grunkle Stan?” Mabel asked tentatively, afraid to strike a wrong chord when he looked so beat up. 

He exhaled and took off his glasses. “Kids. Gideon died. Little rat had a heart attack in the middle of one of his own shows this morning. He was a creep, but this is a shock.”

Mabel stood stock still and tears had already started welling up in her eyes. “No… No… You’re kidding. He didn’t deserve this… He was kind of pushy, but he didn’t deserve to die.”

Dipper stood with his jaw clamped shut and his hands at his sides, trying not to shake. He felt numb. It worked. The Death Note worked. It’s real. He killed Gideon. He stared blankly at a wall and tried to force his face into a mourning expression. “Oh. That’s… a shock. Did it come suddenly?” 

Stan snapped. “Just like that.” He pushed past his niece and nephew and walked up the stairs without another word.

Mabel sat down next to the kitchen table and began sobbing, and Dipper knew he was supposed to comfort her, but he turned around and walked stiffly up to his room instead. This changed everything. 

He shut the door and started pacing, his hands in his hair, but the room started spinning and it was so so hot that he eventually sat down and leaned his back against the side of the bed. His mind was racing, and he was trying and failing to figure out how it worked. 

He tried to sleep, but eventually gave up and pulled out Journal 3 and began writing a new entry on one of the blank pages. His hand shook, but he wrote what he knew about the Death Note and left space for more. 

 

He had weird dreams that night. 

Everything in the forest was just slightly twisted and dark, and he felt like he was treading in a dark haze. He was walking down through a dark narrow tunnel of trees, getting closer and closer to the light at the end, but the tunnel closed in tighter the farther he went. He started running and felt the earth drop out all at once from under him, with the horrible sensation of falling and his throat and eyes filling with dust. “HIYA, PINETREE!” 

Dipper sat up so fast in bed that he hit the back of his head against the wall and fell off the edge of the bed, tangled in a mass of sheets on the floor. “Ergh.” He closed his eyes again and waited for the throbbing in his head to fade, and couldn’t get his mind off the voice in his dream. It sounded just like Bill, the dream demon who had been tormenting his dreams from his first year here, and had gone so far as to possess him on one occasion. But this seemed different somehow. Dipper opened his eyes groggily and started to feel for his glasses when he let out a yelp and scrambled into a sitting position, still tangled in the sheets on the ground. 

Hovering in front of him was Bill Cipher, the obnoxious yellow triangle of his dreams. Or, more accurately, nightmares.

“Bill what the hell? How the hell… Why aren’t you in the Mindscape!” Dipper grabbed his glasses from the night stand behind him and rubbed his eyes. “I must be dreaming. This is too much.”

Bill laughed with his high grating voice that made Dipper want to strangle him, if he had a neck. “Nice to see you too! I see you found my notebook, huh kid?” 

“Your notebook? You mean that, that was…” 

“Yep! You didn’t waste any time with that Gideon kid did you? Don’t worry, I won’t tell.” He hovered closer and Dipper shoved him away angrily. “Woah kid, I’m just saying you’ve got potential.”

“But, but, you’re not a god of death! How could this be yours?” Bill winked, or blinked, it was hard to tell.

“Consider it a part time job. All you need to know is that I came into possession of the notebook, you found it, and now I’ve got a nice anchor to the human world. Isn’t it wonderful? You get magic powers, and I get to stick around. I’ll even help you out, it’s a win win!” 

“What’s keeping you here, then? Why aren’t you off causing global chaos?”

Bill dropped lower. “The thing about an anchor, kid, is that they hold you in one place. That’s the deal, I tag along with you until the day you die, and in return you get death-powers.” 

Dipper untangled himself from the sheets and got shakily onto the bed to sit down. “And what if I just burn it? You’d have to go back.”

“Yes, but because you wrote in the Death Note, when you die you go to the Mindscape for eternity! For that steep a price, I’d advise you keep the powers.”

Dipper glared down, trying to wrap his mind around all of this, and decided he’d burn it that day.  
Bill only laughed.


	2. Communication Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper is starting to feel the effects of being an accidental murderer, and when Pacifica ropes Mabel into an investigation of Gideon's death Dipper feels trapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to everyone who read and left kudos, and even more so for those of you who spent time to leave a comment! You're all super great and I hope you enjoy the story from here.

Dipper walked down the creaking stairs one by one, feeling uncomfortably numb, his head throbbing. Guilt twisted his stomach. Bill is back. The notebook is real. Gideon’s dead. I’m a murderer. 

It had taken him nearly an hour to get dressed that morning, trying to wheedle out secrets about the origins of the Death Note and the Mindscape, with Bill’s answers strengthening Dipper’s resolve to set the notebook on fire the moment he could get alone. 

“Do you have any weaknesses?”

“If you rubbed bleach and chili peppers into your eyes, you might have a crack at taking me on.”

“How were you created?”

“I’d tell you, but it’d cost an arm and a leg, and I hear prosthetics are pricey.” 

Dipper eventually gave up.

He walked into the kitchen to find an eerie silence, and he clumsily made cereal. I should tell Mabel. Maybe not either of the Stans, this could get out of hand. But Mabel, I can trust. 

Getting Mabel alone was the only issue. 

.

Bill roared with laughter, swooping ahead of Dipper to peer into shop windows and into the eyes of other citizens of Gravity Falls, obviously full of joy at being out of the mindscape, and he didn’t even seem to mind the restraints. Dipper rubbed his tired eyes and tried to block out the maniacally laughing demon who was flying circles around him. Dipper was used to operating on little or no sleep, but after the events of the last few days he felt like a walking trainwreck. Just ahead of him, Mabel was talking quietly with a group of people from around town. In a lowered voice, he heard her say, “Dipper’s taking it really hard. Earlier today he threw a plate at nothing, and he’s been so spaced out all morning. He’s always muttering to himself, but it’s hard to get a full conversation out of him lately.” She paused and gave a hopeful smile to Susan, “But that’s just Dipper, right? He’ll be okay.” 

Dipper scowled and acted like he hadn’t heard as Bill appeared over his shoulder and looked down at him innocently. “You know what’d make you feel better about this mess?” 

Dipper spoke through clenched teeth. “What?”

“A few less teeth! Hey, how’d you like to go off into the forest? We can mess up a few deer, give them some extra faces, a few less legs… Come on!”

Dipper knew good and well these were empty threats, as he was all Bill could really do was watch and mess with Dipper’s head in his current form. At least, he hoped. 

The small group around Mabel drifted away, and she turned and walked over to Dipper, completely blind to the dream demon hovering just above his head. 

Finally. Dipper let out a small sigh of relief, and launched into his half planned speech. “Okay, Mabel? I was in the forest two days ago‒”

“When you were out really late and were all beat up by that monster you’ve been describing really vaguely?” 

“Yes. So anyway, on that same trip, I had just gotten some shelter, when I noticed something on the ground. Sort of like a notebook.”

“But not exactly like a notebook? Only sort of?” 

“Yes, so I picked it up and…” Dipper saw Mabel’s focus drift somewhere behind him and a small smile started to spread across her face. 

“Paz!” She exclaimed, as brightly as she could considering her low mood, and Dipper grimaced as Pacifica Northwest walked over from behind him and wrapped her arms around his sister. He didn’t mind Pacifica, she had helped them out of a lot of dark places (sometimes literally) over the years, and once you fight monsters, (or lumberjack ghosts, for example), with someone they become family. So even though the relationship was somewhat of an unexpected development to Dipper, it obviously made Mabel happy, so he couldn’t be completely against it. 

All of this in mind, Dipper knew there was no way in hell he was going to get Mabel’s full attention back now that her girlfriend had shown up.

After the usual greetings, Pacifica divided her attention to the two of them. “Did you hear about Gideon? It’s awful.” She said, eyeing the grayscale memorial pictures of Gideon already lining most store windows. Criminal history or not, small towns clung to celebrities.

“How could we not?” Mabel answered, starting to look downcast again. “I have to wonder what caused it, though.”

“More like who caused it.” Pacifica said grimly, and it took everything Dipper had not to react as Bill sang out, “Oooooooohh.”

Dipper feigned nonchalance. “What makes you say that?”

She raised her eyebrows. “He was a perfectly healthy, for the most part, eighteen year old. No known health issues, and he had a lot of enemies. So yeah, I think we can assume foul play was involved.” 

“But who would go that far? I mean, did he even have any other enemies than Stan?” Mabel asked, starting to twist the hem of her dark blue knitted sweater nervously. 

“You’d be surprised. People can do terrible things. It could be anyone.” Her eyes drifted over the crowd. “Have you seen his parents around yet?” 

“No, of course not.” Mabel asked, practically mumbling. 

Dipper crossed his arms, eager for Pacifica to leave so he could finish explaining this mess to Mabel. He was tired, and hours of panic, guilt and denial had waned into a bitter numbness, and he was no longer so acutely aware of what he was saying. “What if he did something to deserve it you just don’t know about? He manipulated Mabel once. Also, am I the only one who remembers the giant robot?” 

“Dipper, we were twelve. No one deserves to die. I don’t care what the reason or justification is, or even how terrible Gideon might have been. He wasn’t that bad, and if someone really did kill him, then I’d never speak to them again.” Mabel spoke calmly, but there was an edge to her voice.

Dipper stood shock still, trying to move his face into something resembling a hopeful smile. “You’re right. You know what? Why don’t you start investigating now.”

Pacifica smiled for real. “That’s the spirit. In fact, I already have. I’ve interviewed most of the town this morning, and I already have a list of possible suspects narrowed down.” She pulled a small purple notebook from her purse and flipped it open, revealing a long list of names, and Dipper scanned it and couldn’t help but scowl again. 

“Hey! Why’s my name on there? I was up in the Mystery Shack studying when he died.”

“And was anyone else there with you?”

“Well, no, but,” 

“So you’re on the list. We can’t afford to be sloppy here.” Dipper rolled his eyes, and Pacifica swept her blonde hair over her shoulder and gave the same knowing smile. “Oh, and one more thing, Dipper?”

“Yeah?”

“You forgot your hat.”

“What?! He reached up in disbelief to feel his head and couldn’t believe it; he never forgot his hat. It was the only thing that covered his birthmark, the shape of the Dipper constellation on his forehead, his biggest insecurity. He balled his brown hair in his fist and Pacifica walked away, the soles of her shoes clicking. Mabel lingered, looking more worried than ever. 

“Dipper, what was it you wanted to talk about? Something about a notebook?” She spoke softly, and he couldn’t help but feel like she was talking to some startled animal. 

“Nothing. I’m fine.”


	3. A Walk in the Park

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper presses the limits of social ineptness.   
> Hello naughty children it's murder time

Dipper turned away from the crowd and trudged toward the forest, deciding he needed a walk to clear his mind. He weaved through the crowd, trying to block out the heavy buzz of talking. It felt like everyone in town was out in the street at once, and he felt everyone’s eyes weighing on his back, staring at him. He kept his eyes down, and had almost made it to the treeline when two new pairs of shoes stepped into his vision and he stumbled as he was hit with a wall of sickeningly-sweet cotton candy perfume. Tiredly, he brought up his gaze to see Candy and Grenda, Mabel’s friends. “Dipper! We heard you were worried! We thought you might need someone to talk to, yeah?” Candy asked, fiddling with her glasses. Beside her, Grenda wore a deep frown. 

“Yeah! Moral support and all that!” She tried to force a smile it didn’t work quite right. Dipper stumbled back a few steps, trying to untangle himself. Once they got talking, he knew he’d never get a chance to get away… 

“Uh, actually I’m fine. You know, just an average guy. I didn’t know him any better than anyone else. He was okay. Or something.” He started to walk around them into the tree line, but he heard them crunching in the leaves and twigs after him. 

“No, but he did so much! Remember, after he got out of prison he raised all that money for the kitten protection and country music fund. He really turned himself around.”

“He was really cool.” Grenda agreed, and Dipper found himself pulling at his hair again out of habit. 

“I know. I know. Just. Do you guys think I could have some space? I think I need to be alone to you know, think it out.” 

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk it out?” Candy asked, her voice rising slightly. 

“Yes. Absolutely.” He snapped and pushed forward, his vest catching on a loose branch. Grenda moved to help untangle him but he ripped himself free without a word and continued pushing through the rain-covered trees. Behind him, he heard the sounds of the two girls stopping and turning away. He stomped through the woods, blackberry vines ripping at his ankles, grabbing his hair in his hands and trying to breath properly as Bill lagged just behind him. “That was really rude. Augh, whatever. I need time to think. Breathe.” He talked out loud to himself as he walked along, until he came to an open clearing in the woods.

He collapsed in a heap onto the still damp grass and spongy moss. He had bigger things to worry about than stained clothes at the moment. He buried his face in his hands and tried to sort out his thoughts. “Alright. So Pacifica thinks she can play Sherlock, who cares. Half the town’s on her stupid list. All I have to worry about is keeping the Note safe.” Bill hummed at his side, uncharacteristically quiet as Dipper felt the inside of his vest pocket. His stomach turned as he took it out and felt the ripped inner lining of his jacket. It was crumpled and stained with fat drops of rainwater, and part of a few pages had been ripped out. He shot up immediately and remembered getting snagged on the tree back with Candy and Grenda. His eyes went wild as he stuffed the Death Note in his other vest pocket and raced back toward the tree where he’d gotten snagged. The Note’s instructions on lost pieces of paper looped back in his mind. If anyone touched those papers, they’d see Bill, and then it would only be a matter of time until he was found out. Bill cackled behind him, floating delightedly. “Whoops, Pinetree, looks like you should watch where you’re going next time! Better go clean up your mess, kid!” 

Dipper skidded to a halt in the space between trees where he’d split off from Candy and Grenda and froze, shaking. Grenda and Candy were both kneeling and picking up the lost pieces of paper, stuffing them in their pockets. Like they were collecting trash. Dipper stared in horror as he watched them handle the paper. He let out a noise halfway between a groan and whimper. They broke off from their conversation as they heard him approach. “And so I was like, I’m sorry, I don’t do puppets and he was all-- Oh Dipper you’re back! That was a short walk, don’t you…” Her eyes rolled up to Dipper and he watched in horror as her eyes slid up above him to gape at the triangle demon floating just above his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to those of you that commented, seriously. It really lets me know that someone's reading what I write and that's awesome! You all are so nice, and I look forward to seeing where this story goes!


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